NEWSWIRE

CANADA vs NAMIBIA

Canada fell 21 runs short of the 155 run target set by Namibia today in the final of the two match 50 over series from Windhoek. Winning the toss and electing to bat, Namibia struggled throughout the innings with an unbeaten half century from Christi Viljoen being the only standout contribution and Canadian captain Rizwan Cheema providing the bulk of the damage collecting figures of 6-34 from 8.5 overs.

The Canadian response was stunted early with the loss of Ruvindu Gunasekera (4) and Nitish Kumar (0). Opener Hiral Patel (17) and Usman Limbada (1) followed shortly leaving Canada at 4-33 in 10.5 overs. Jimmy Hansra (34) and Tyson Gordon (38) provided their share of middle order runs, however neither could complete the chase. Rustam Bhatti also batted intellgiently with Gordon in his 23 run performance.

Canadian Coach Michael DIghton had the following post match comments:

"A bitter pill to swallow and a bad way to finish a tour that could have been somewhat of a success with two WCL wins. Our bowling group performed admirably and Rizwan Cheema led from the front with the fine figures of 6/34. Our batting was again extremely disappointing and we failed to handle the pressure of some disciplined Namibian bowling and at times, brilliant fielding. We lost early wickets through expansive drives and a lack of footwork, something that we had identified as being critical to success on this wicket. Tyson and Jimmy put on a good partnership but had little support."

Dighton continued and summarized Canada's fortunes during the tour.

"I believe that we have learnt some valuable lessons during this tour and you could sense genuine disappointment in the dressing rooms after yesterdays defeat. I was happy with our efforts up until day 3 in the I cup match and half way through yesterdays WCL fixture in conditions that were foreign to a majority of this group. Zeeshan played with great fight and spirit in the I cup and Soraine was lion hearted with the ball in a role that he would not have expected before departing Canada. There were some solid contributions in the WCL with Cheemas' 6 wickets in game two providing the highlight. We need to acknowledge that we can not have a bad half hour with the bat in both forms if we are going to improve."